York says new GM will hire next 49ers coach

49ERS Team CEO says general manager will choose coach

Team President Jed York just fired the first NFL head coach he ever hired. This second time, he pledges to let someone else do the hiring.

York vowed to hand over football operations to a general manager he will hire in the coming weeks, and that will begin with giving the GM power to hire Mike Singletary's replacement.

"It's important for me to get a general manager and have the general manager select the head coach," York said Monday, one day after he fired Singletary when the 49ers were eliminated from the NFC West title chase.

"Our general manager is going to put that list together, so I'm not going to say, 'You're the GM but you can't hire this guy as your head coach.' Our general manager is going to have the ability to hire whoever he wants as the head coach."

In other words, York is willing to step aside and let someone else make the decisive calls after two years of exerting his will as team president and CEO, whether it was in hiring and firing Singletary, seeing off general manager Scot McCloughan in March or promoting Trent Baalke to the top of the personnel department soon thereafter.

How much power is York promising to transfer?

The San Francisco 49ers' CEO and team president Jed York leaves after a press conference at their headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, December 27, 2010.

The San Francisco 49ers' CEO and team president Jed York leaves after a press conference at their headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, December 27, 2010.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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The San Francisco 49ers' CEO and team president Jed York leaves after a press conference at their headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, December 27, 2010.

The San Francisco 49ers' CEO and team president Jed York leaves after a press conference at their headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday, December 27, 2010.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

York says new GM will hire next 49ers coach

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The GM, not the owner, will hire the team's 17th all-time head coach. The GM, not the owner, will decide who remains in the personnel department.

The GM will decide which assistant coaches and coordinators get to stay, unless he decides to let the coach make that call. The GM will decide what control the coach has over the 53-man roster, if he has any at all.

All this comes just seven months after York restructured the organizational chart in such a way that all parties answered to him with no GM to serve as a mediator. Baalke answered to York, Singletary answered to York, executive vice president Paraag Marathe answered to York.

"I'm worried about building a franchise that's going to be successful for the future," York said.

This proud franchise hasn't experienced success in eight years, no matter how many GMs (three) and coaches (four) the York family has employed since it gained control of the organization from Eddie DeBartolo Jr. in 2000.

The Yorks have overseen eight straight non-winning seasons in a franchise that had not gone more than four years without a winning record. This is the first time the 49ers have gone this long without making the playoffs since the eight years leading to Bill Walsh's first Super Bowl team in the 1981 season.

This makes York's choice for general manager the most important decision of his young tenure as the head of the franchise.

The family's previous GM hires, Terry Donahue and McCloughan, did not produce lasting results. If the York family wants to turn around the organization, it starts with getting the GM hire right.

That is why York won't set a timeline to make a hire. He wants to talk to available GM candidates this week, then go after currently employed candidates when the season ends next week.

"I think it's important to get somebody that's the right fit for the 49ers," York said. "I think we want to make sure that we look at as many people as we possibly can to come to that right conclusion."

York said the decision is his, and his alone. His parents, co-owners John and Denise, will not make the hire. His right-hand man, Marathe, will not be involved. Same goes for Baalke, who is under consideration as an in-house candidate.

For advice, York said he will lean heavily on his Uncle Eddie, who has helped set up contacts with several unknown candidates. He will also turn to Patriots President Jonathan Kraft, one of his confidants in ownership circles.

All this points to York further conceding that, simply because he holds all the power as the owners' son and CEO of the company, he still needs help getting this organization straight.

At least one former player thinks York is right to leave football decisions to a football person like a GM, and just stay out of the way.

"I think that's a smart idea," said Fox Sports commentator Derrick Deese, a starting guard on the 49ers' last Super Bowl team, in the 1994 season. "You want a guy in there and you don't want to give him any excuses of why it isn't working."

Kevin Lynch contributed

to this report.

8 and wait

The 49ers have missed the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. Their record and head coach while compiling a 45-82 record: